NaPM 2018 Day 6
Here's the prompt for Day 6 of National Poetry Month on Pig Pen Poetry Workshop.
Topic 6: Write a poem inspired by the perspective of anthropologists from one thousand years in the future trying to make sense of something we routinely do today. Form : any Line requirements: 8 lines or more
What Lingers Consider the iconography of the butterfly: this mythological creature captured the imagination of the ancients, particularly women, for whom it clearly had an association with breast and buttock. In ritual scar-and-ink we see its placement on intimate sections of skin, which seems indicative of participation in the Victorian Mysteries. These secret ceremonies pervaded the underground of the Caucasogallic civilisations in the late 2nd century BTA, characterised by robes of petrochemical derivative demonstrating awareness of the shortage of this resource by using only small amounts of the fabric, strategically placed to draw attention to regions of the body the zealots deemed sacred. Why the butterfly? It is known that the High Priestess of the Mysteries was referred to as a Supermodel; related texts imply that the prefix super denotes an ability to fly*. Devotees would have viewed themselves as transcendent, not connected to the prosaic and practical, with such things being beneath them. In legend, the butterfly is said to have transformed from worm to bird: the prey becoming the predator. It is probable that the secret rituals included a hunting ceremony of some kind, probably with spears; thus, in an era believed to have been dominantly patriarchal, the women would assert themselves. Conflicting evidence suggests, however, that in many cases the Mysteries were actually viewed by any number of men, from one to millions. *Forensic testing carried out on fossilised remains of over a dozen Supermodels shows an odd honeycombing of the bones, elongation of the limbs and very little musculature. Although it is unlikely that true flight was achieved by these priestesses, archaeologists are unable to rule out the possibility of short glides with some mechanical assistance. Testing also indicates high levels of Erythroxylum coca, a high- altitude plant which may indicate that these Supermodels originated from a single source, possibly in modern-day Colombantrumpador. The mountainous atmosphere of this region would also explain the uniform enlargement of the nasal passages and increased chest size.
